Northern Arc Investments, the debt fund manager owned by non-banking financial company Northern Arc Capital, has announced the closure of its first fund.
IFMR FImpact Investment Fund delivered net returns (pre-tax, post all other expenses) of over 15% (in rupee terms) versus its target of 13%.
Launched in 2015, the fund had raised Rs 100 crore in commitments from investors including banks, insurance companies and rich people.
Its portfolio comprised 13 companies, which disbursed over 10 million end-loans to unbanked and underbanked segments in India.
It was also the first private credit fund from India to focus on microfinance.
Kshama Fernandes, MD & CEO of Northern Arc Capital, said: “At the time of its launch, the fund was an untested play in the financial inclusion space in India, and has since served as a proof-of-concept for private credit funds to successfully operate in this segment.”
“This is our second consecutive timely exit from our investment platform in the last two years,” said Ravi Vukkadala, CEO of Northern Arc Investments.
In February last year, Northern Arc Investments announced the closure of one of its early vehicles, IFMR FImpact Medium Term Microfinance Fund. The three-and-a-half-year tenured fund, which matured in December 2019, delivered net returns (pre-tax and post all other expenses) of over 13% to investors, above its target of 11.5%.
Some of the other funds include IFMR FImpact Long Term Multi Asset Class Fund, IFMR Long Term Credit Fund, and IFMR FImpact Income Builder Fund.
Last year, Northern Arc Investments marked the first close of its eighth fund, with a corpus of $100 million, including a greenshoe option of $50 million.
Northern Arc Investments (formerly IFMR Investment Managers) manages over Rs 2,000 crore ($300 million) in commitments.